Packing My Library: An Elegy and Ten Digressions

Posted on 16 March 2019 by Alberto Manguel

A best selling author and world renowned bibliophile meditates on his vast personal library and champions the vital role of all libraries In June 2015 Alberto Manguel prepared to leave his centuries old village home in France s Loire Valley and reestablish himself in a one bedroom apartment on Manhattan s Upper West Side Packing up his enormous, 35,000 volume personal library, choosing which books to keep, store, or cast out, Manguel found himself in deep reverie on the nature of relationships between books and readers, books and collectors, order and disorder, memory and reading In this poignant and personal reevaluation of his life as a reader, the author illuminates the highly personal art of reading and affirms the vital role of public libraries Manguel s musings range widely, from delightful reflections on the idiosyncrasies of book lovers to deeper analyses of historic and catastrophic book events, including the burning of ancient Alexandria s library and contemporary library lootings at the hands of ISIS With insight and passion, the author underscores the universal centrality of books and their unique importance to a democratic, civilized, and engaged society. New Download [ Packing My Library: An Elegy and Ten Digressions ] author [ Alberto Manguel ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr The discovery of the art of reading is intimate, obscure, secret, almost impossible to explain, akin to falling in love, if you will forgive the maudlin comparison It is acquired by oneself alone, like a sort of epiphany, or perhaps by contagion, confronted by other readers I don t know of manyways The happiness procured by reading, like any happiness, cannot be enforced I ve often wished that I could infect other people with my passion or enthusiasm about reading A book begins The discovery of the art of reading is intimate, obscure, secret, almost impossible to explain, akin to falling in love, if you will forgive the maudlin comparison It is acquired by oneself alone, like a sort of epiphany, or perhaps by contagion, confronted by other readers I don t know of manyways The happiness procured by reading, like any happiness, cannot be enforced I ve often wished that I cou...A brilliant set of essays on the importance of books, reading, and libraries It is true that, confronted with the blind imbecility with which we try to destroy our planet, the relentlessness with which we inflict pain on ourselves and others, the extent of our greed and cowardice and envy, the arrogance with which we strut among our fellow living creatures, it is hard to believe that writing literature or any other art, for that matter teaches us anything If after reading lines such as Larkin A brilliant set of essays on the importance of books, reading, and libraries It is true that, confronted with the blind imbecility with which we try to destroy our planet, the relentlessness with which we inflict pain on ourselves and others, the extent of our greed and cowardice and envy, the arrogance with which we strut among our fellow living creatures, it is hard to believe that writing literature or any other art, for that matter teaches us anything If after reading lines such as Larkin s The trees are coming into leaf, Like something almost being said, we are still capable of all such atrocities, then perhaps literature does make nothing happen Like the Greeks, we allow ourselves to be governed by sick and greedy individuals for whom death is unimportant because it happens to others, and in book after book we attempt to put... Alberto Manguel has had consistent 5 star ratings for his books on reading, books and libraries With regret, he packs up his library of 35,000 volumes and prepares to move from a vast property in rural France to a small apartment on Manhattan s West Side.Choosing which books to keep, store, or cast out, Manguel finds himself in deep reverie on the nature of relationships between books and readers, books and collectors, order and disorder, Alberto Manguel has had consistent 5 star ratings for his books on reading, books and libraries With regret, he packs up his library of 35,000 volumes and prepares to move from a vast property in rural France to a small apartment on Manhattan s West Side.Choosing which books to keep, store, or cast out, Manguel finds himself in deep reverie on the nature of relationships between books and readers, books and collectors, order and disorder, memory and reading.In this poignant re evaluation of his life as a reader, he illuminates the highly personal art of reading and affirms the vital role of public libraries Manguel s musings range widely from delightful reflections on the idiosyncrasies of book lovers to deeper analyses of historic and catastrophic book events, including the burning of ancient Alexandria s library and contemporary library lootings at the hands of ISIS.With insight and passion, the author underscores the universal central...Oneunplanned serendipitous encounterAnd what a delight A glorious ode to books, libraries, reading, and the power of written word Utterly enchanting from the first page A perfect gift for a bibliophile if you are in search of one 5 Oneunplanned serendip...I was drawn to this article the words, and unusually for me since I mprint than picture motivated, the shots of his library It s exactly what I want I ve never had a library, I ve only ever had books everywhere, which isn t the same thing at all Right now we have a 6m x 3m garage we are planning to turn into this thing, a library A place which has no purpose at all other than to be with books.And I m hoping to add this book to the shelves I was drawn to this article the words, and unusually for me since I mprint than picture motivated, the shots of his library It s exactly what I want I ve never had a library, I ve only ever had books everywhere, which isn t the same thing at all Right now we have a...My first reading of this author, a man who knows and loves books The intro to the book covers a lovely description of where he lived in France for 15 years and maintained his substantial library in a barn The digressions are various and...These essays were a delight to read The walled garden was an extraordinarily quiet place Every morning at about six, I would come downstairs, still half asleep, make myself a pot of tea in the dark rafted kitchen, and sit with our dog on the stone bench outside to watch the morning light creep along the back wall Then I would go with her into my tower, which was attached to the barn, and read Only the song of birds and in summer, the drone of honeybees broke the silence. These essays were a delight to read The walled garden was an extraordinarily quiet place Every morning at about six, I would come downstairs, still half asleep, make myself a pot of tea in the dark rafted kitchen, and sit with our dog on the stone bench outside to watch the morning light creep along the back wall Then I would go with her into my tower, whic...In June 2015 Alberto Manguel prepared to leave his centuries old village home in France s Loire Valley and reestablish himself in a one bedroom apartment on Manhattan s Upper West Side Packing up his enormous, 35,000 volume personal library, choosing which books to keep, store, or cast out, begins the book description That was the book I wanted to read the book I thought I was going to be reading, titled Packing My Library Because this would be my personal nightmare, having to move all my In June 2015 Alberto Manguel prepared to leave his centuries old village home in France s Loire Valley and reestablish himself in a one bedroom apa...In my library, I felt surrounded by this silent majority as Homer called the dead , a vast flock of pages that helps they keys to my past and instructions for my present.From PACKING MY LIBRARY An Elegy and Ten Digressions by Alberto Manguel 2018, Yale University PressThe meta delight of bibliophiles reading a book about books Manguel, who has written...Cher M Manguel,I think I might be in love with you It s possible that that s an exaggeration, but if it is, it s only slight You ve captured, perfectly, the aboutness of reading, of being a reader, and of being an owner of books I, too, am a many book owning librarian, and I know that that s a funny thing But in this, a love letting to owning books, to picking up a sheaf of well thumbed, bound pages, and finding not only a familiar story but a familiar time, place, drop of orange juice from Cher M Manguel,I think I might be in love with you It s possible that that s an exaggeration, but if it is, it s only slight You ve captured, perfectly, the aboutness of reading, of being a reader, and of being an owner of books I, too, am a many book owning librarian, and I know that that s a funny thing But in this, a love letting to owning books, to picking up a sheaf of well thumbed, bound pages, and finding not only a familiar story but a familiar time, place, drop of orange juice from breakfast at your grandmother s kitchen table, tears along the sternum of the book between chapters two and three, you have articulated perfectly why the ownership of books, and their absence, can be such an emotional thing I also very much enjoyed your digressions, which were as informative as they were charming, slipping perfectly within the notched out spaces in your story The final section on what a national libr...

Packing My Library: An Elegy and Ten Digressions

English
16 March 2019

Alberto Manguel